I’m a victim of witch hunt, says ex-city housing boss

FORMER human settlements mayco member Malusi Booi has implicated two senior City officials in what he described as a witch hunt leading to his arrest over tender collusion charges, which the National Prosecuting Authority subsequently withdrew on Friday.  

Booi was arrested last year, one year after his offices were raided and his electronic equipment seized. The charges against him related to alleged tender collusion linked to construction companies owned by alleged underworld figures such as Stanfield and his wife Nicole Johnson. 

In an exclusive interview with the Cape Times yesterday, Booi spoke of what he believed led to his arrest, his time as the mayoral committee member and his future in politics. 

“I do think it was (a political witch hunt), it has been confirmed on a number of platforms because in the first place there was no R1 billion tender fraud. Even if something happened at the supply chain, I don't have any control on who gets to be appointed or not being appointed. I've got no role in appointing contractors. I was viewed as someone who awarded a contract to a contractor, the people who did that knew very well that it does not exist because that is purely administrative, it is done by City officials. It is not done by politicians, our role is purely oversight. We meet contractors that had already been appointed on site. 

"The company in question was never appointed by the City, they were appointed by the provincial government in 2014. I was not even working for the City at the time, so there was no way I could have championed the appointment. I joined in 2016, appointed as sub council chairperson for subcouncil 21. I only joined human settlements in December 2018. It was four years later that the company was appointed. I was taken aback when I was accused of facilitating this appointment," he said. 

Upon his own investigations, Booi said he learned that the tenders in question were even cancelled before they were awarded.

“There was a narrative created that the City lost a billion when they knew the City never lost a cent. There was no money taken but the impression created was that Malusi ran away with a R1billion, I mean, it’s not possible. No money lost by the City. During my tenure we achieved 99.3% of delivery. So I was shocked to understand that all of a sudden there are these issues.” 

He said he knew who was behind the orchestrated move against him. He said one of the officials had made statements saying he was the one who gave police information about Booi, while another made remarks in a CCMA case that “he wanted to deal with me harshly”. 

Asked why he would be the target of these attacks, Booi said he was not in favour and did not support the re-appointment of one of the officials. 

“A lot of things were not going right under his watch, a lot of service delivery issues.”

Booi said the entire saga had been draining both psychologically and physically. 

“It took a (huge) toll on my  family but I am relieved now all these charges have been dropped so that one can continue with life. From day one, when they came to the office, it has always been a very difficult moment but I’ve tried to remain calm under the situation. I lost my job that I enjoyed doing the most. It’s been very stressful.”

Booi said he would not be considering returning to the City given the opportunity to do so. He plans to settle in the Eastern Cape where he wants to focus on a family-run farming business. 

The DA seemingly distanced themselves from Booi, with party spokesperson, Matthew Sims saying because he did not renew his membership, questions on the issue were “moot”.  

Booi disputed this saying: “It’s a lie that I never renewed my membership. My membership was suspended by the DA because of the case. Again a wrong message is being sent out as if I’m the one irresponsible, I never renewed my membership. How could I have renewed a membership that was suspended by the party?” asked Booi. 

The City would only say: “The City will respond, if applicable, in due course”.

Cape Times